Zutara Week 2017
by turtleducklingg
Summary: My one-shots, drabbles and more for zk month 2017!
1. Day 1 - Fire Lady

_Disclaimer: If I owned AtLA, zutara would be canon, so we can safely say that I don't._

* * *

It was time for a change.

Katara loved Zuko with all her heart - loved him from the minute she opened her eyes in the morning to the moment she closed them again at night (and as cliché as it sounds, it was true), but she didn't love _this._ She and Zuko had been married for just under two weeks, and already she was doubting if she could really do this. It wasn't the servants constant readiness to tend to her every need, or the expectation to know fire nation etiquette inside and out, or even the food (which, admittedly, wasn't to Katara's tastes). No, it was the people; more specifically, the people's complete, unapologetic hate for her.

Of course, she didn't think that the Fire Nation would just wholeheartedly accept a foreigner into their Royal Family, and Zuko had explained to her that for the past 100 years, the entirety of the Nation had been conditioned to hate all other parts of the world, but she still hadn't really fully grasped how extreme their feelings would be until she saw it for herself - and boy, did she see it. She was constantly called a a _'disgrace to the Fire Nation'_ , whispers of 'peasant' following her wherever she was, paired with names that she didn't quite recognise and, from the anger on Zuko's face whenever they were said, were probably some kind of racial slur. It didn't help that some people weren't fond of Zuko to begin with, and while many were grateful for the peace the new Firelord brought, many others didn't take kindly to the change, and in turn, gave them another reason to dislike the Fire Lady. And while a large amount of Fire Nation citizens were finding that the people of other nations weren't too bad, the idea of a non-native becoming Fire Lady was all too much for most. The nation had never even had a Fire Lady of a darker skin tone, much less one of a whole different race, and the fact that Zuko had to change a whole law put in place at least a century ago stating that the Fire Lord must marry someone of Fire Nation descent (a rule that took a great amount of effort to change) definitely wasn't helping.

And so, within three days of coming back from her one-week honeymoon, Katara had put up blue curtains in her room, and had attained a few beautifully made cobalt-coloured robes by the fourth. She wore both Zuko's and her mother's betrothal necklace proudly around her neck, and made it clear to everyone in the palace that she wasn't going to trade her own culture with the Fire Nation's, and yet she wasn't happy. Of course she was upset at the public's dislike for her, but even more than that, she was _angry_. And she knew that these people didn't choose to be fed lies by power hungry leaders, but that didn't give them the right to refer to her as a _peasant_ and not even give her a chance as Fire Lady just because she wasn't some rich pale fire nation lady that everyone was used to. But she did understand that many of the citizens just weren't taught to respect other nationalities, and Katara knew that when people are uneducated, the best thing to do is to teach them.

* * *

She was usually good with public speaking, but making a speech in front of a huge crowd of people that _really_ didn't like her was more daunting than previous speeches she had made. Pair after pair of harsh, judgemental eyes followed her as she made her way up to the stand, head held high and mouth dry in anxiousness. Although nerves were making her slightly regret that she hadn't prepared a speech beforehand, she knew she spoke best when she was improvising; and so, she took a deep breath, cleared her throat and began.

"Greetings, people of the Fire Nation. I know most of you aren't very fond of me, and I know you all have your own reasons for that, but I am here today because of something we all want - peace. It is something the avatar fought for, it is something Firelord Zuko fought for, and it is something that I fought for too. Yes, the war is over, but its affects are far from gone, and it has left many with a hatred for other nations. I too felt the same way - about this nation - when I was younger, but travelling with the avatar and seeing different cultures, and such good people from each nation, including this one, brought me away from that hatred. I know not all of us get the chance to travel the world, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to fight this toxicity that the war has left us with. And to everyone standing here in front of me, I am sorry, because although your leaders might have started the war a hundred years ago, you are all victims. You were all brought up with the idea that other nations are bad, and even your schoolbooks were full of lies and propaganda, and I know you didn't choose that, but I think we all understand that that is wrong. Don't you want to fight against that - and fight for peace, and harmony? I know having me as a Fire Lady is hard to adjust to, and I never expected to immediately be liked by you all, but now that the war is over, we are in a time of change, and whether you like it or not, I am part of that change. We have a long road ahead to achieve our goals and recover from this war, and I know that it will take time to earn your respect, but I think you should know that no matter how much you dislike me, I am not going anywhere. So maybe, in the future, we can build a path of peace together, and maybe, there will be harmony among the nations again. I, for one, hope that one day, there will be."

There was silence when her speech ended. No booing or insults or an of the sort thrown at her, but no cheering or applause either. However, that very night, Zuko came home with a huge smile on his face.

"What's got you so happy?" Katara asked, making room for her husband as he climbed into bed.

"I heard two women talking today about you, they were saying how they liked your speech, and that they would give you a chance and see how you do as Fire Lady!"

Katara raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Did they really say that or are you just trying to make me feel better?"

"They really said it, Kat, word for word. I'm so proud of you, you're going to be an amazing fire lady - you _are_ an amazing fire lady. I love you so much." Zuko beamed, kissing her on the cheek.

"I love you too," she replied, unable to hide her smile; it would be difficult, but bit by bit, she knew she could win the Fire Nation over.


	2. Day 7 - Starlight

They sat under the moon peach tree.

It had become a sort of habit for the two teenagers - whispered conversations under the sheen of the crescent moon, while their friends were soundly asleep. Katara liked it out here, with the night sky and the sea and the gentle breeze making leaves dance lie waves washing up on shore - and with him. She wasn't sure what exactly he liked about it, with him being a firebender and the whole _rising with the sun_ thing, but she remembered him saying something about it being so peaceful and quiet, where he could just be with his thoughts.

She couldn't remember exactly when it went from _his thoughts_ to _their thoughts_ , but she did remember him just looking so _sad_. She had become used to him firebending with Aang or making sarcastic little comments at dinner or messing up his uncle's jokes when he made tea, but when he wasn't doing any of that, he looked like a whole different person. It was like his molten gold eyes were drowning in a million different thoughts and worries and sorrows, and he didn't have to frown or sigh or speak for her to know something was wrong. Of course, when she asked what was wrong, he replied with _nothing_ and a little smile, but she could see that a curve in his lips did nothing to change his eyes. And so she sat down and put her chin in her hands and let the stars shine down on them.

They talked that night. Talked about their mothers and the bravery in their hearts and the look in their eyes when they last looked at their children, and Katara was sure that his eyes looked just a little less heavy that night. And so they talked again, night after night, until she wasn't quite sure what she'd do without their nightly conversations. It was so nice to have someone to just listen, to not have to be strong or responsible or caring and just be _Katara_ , with flaws and problems and mistakes. It felt just as good to be trusted by Zuko, to be told things that he obviously didn't share with people often.

She knew this would be their last conversation under the moon peach tree.

The night sky shaded his skin and the moon shone in his eyes and inky black hair. He was beautiful and she wasn't going to lie to herself and say she didn't see it, but that wasn't why they were here. They weren't awake with each other midnight to share skin and let the night sky rain down onto their souls, and even if they were, it wasn't on their minds.

She inhaled the chilly night air and looked at him, straight into those amber eyes and whatever lied beneath them.

"Do you think we really will win the war?"

He was silent for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek before replying, "Honestly? I don't know. I don't know if Aang is prepared enough to fight the Firelord and I don't know if he's actually prepared to kill him anyway and I don't know if we'll all make it out alive."

It wasn't the answer she was hoping for, but she knew it was true. They couldn't be certain of anything, and they couldn't know if they were really prepared to face this battle. "I know Aang doesn't want to kill the Firelord, but do you think Aang is actually good enough to defeat him?"

"Well, Aang definitely isn't a master, but the comet will affect his firebending as well, and he'll have us fighting with him as well. The firelord is... he's really powerful, and the comet will make him even more difficult to defeat, but I think we could do it," He paused, and gave her a little smile, "and I'm a pessimist, so if I think we could do it, then we probably can."

She smiled back, but her expression became serious again too quickly. "I just - ever since I met Aang, I really believed he could save the world. And I do still believe in him, I really do, its just that everything's happening so fast and there's not anything fun about this anymore and I never thought he'd have such problem with killing Ozai and... I mean, I know that the air nomads teach that all life is sacred and I respect that, I really do, but Ozai's such a terrible person. There must be an exception, right? And I _know_ that the Firelord's the exception. And I keep telling myself that Aang will be able to do it and I doubt need to doubt him but I just can't believe it right now and I wish I could but I can't and I just don't know what to do anymore."

"I mean... there's not much we can do anymore. This is Aang's destiny, and no matter how much we've helped him get here, we can't choose to kill the Firelord for him, he needs to do it himself. But I mean, we'll do what we can do. We're part of this too, and we'll all do our part." Zuko said, pausing for a second and sighing. "Sorry I can't give you a better answer."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not going to be happy with any answer right now because, well, I don't really think there's a good answer. Its like you said; we don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, and we can't be certain that we'll win." She looked up at the sky and looked back at him, eyes softening slightly, "But I know we can try."

And suddenly she didn't want this to end. She didn't want to leave this place tomorrow and she didn't want to go and fight because she wasn't stupid and she knew that there would be a higher risk than ever that they wouldn't come back as a group of six. She couldn't let this be the last night spent talking with Zuko, she couldn't let anything happen to him or Sokka or Toph or Aang or Suki, and she just wanted to scream at the sky or the ocean or the spirits to make something change because it really wasn't fun anymore.

Zuko seemed to notice something was wrong, because he suddenly looked concerned and said, "Hey, what's wrong?" in that soft voice that shed only heard him use with her. She simply shook her head and felt a tear slide down her cheek and suddenly he wrapped her in a hug and she was crying into his shirt and she wondered if this was the last time he'd ever hold her, and cried a little harder.

She didn't know how much time went by before she pulled away and wiped her eyes and mumbled a quiet _sorry_.

He gave her another little smile. "Don't be sorry." They sat in silence for a moment, before he began to speak again. "Y'know, my mom used to say if i looked at the brightest star i could find and made a wish on it, and truly meant it, then my wish would come true."

"Did it come true?" She asked.

"I can't remember what I wished for," He admitted, "but there's a pretty bright star up there." He pointed at the sky and they both looked at it for a moment, no doubt sending their wishes up into the night sky.

* * *

 _oh god ok so even this is a day late but ive had a kinda bad week mental health-wise and i just couldn't find the motivation to write so I'm really sorry but i hope you enjoy this one shot!_


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